Chicken Stir-Fry

Procrastination station, recipe number 2! Another case of making something up, but not writing it down! And it was so scrumptious! I guess I'll have to try again another time. I'll post what I do remember, again, with the exception of measurements. All i remember is that I could NOT stop eating this.

Chicken Stir-Fry

marinade/sauce
soy sauce
sesame oil
garlic, minced
fresh ginger, minced
honey

boneless, skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced (raw)

jasmine or brown rice (cooked)

sesame oil
onions, chopped
carrots, chopped
zucchini, chopped
celery, chopped
red bell pepper, chopped
mushrooms, chopped

And now for the fun!

Marinade chicken breast for as long as a day, but at least an hour.

Heat sesame oil in LARGE skillet (or wok) over medium high heat. Add veggies and cook until slightly tender, but still crisp. Add the chicken WITH the marinade (it will become the sauce, which is FINE because we're cooking it :), just make sure you see the sauce bubbling, if it's not, turn up the heat!) Once the chicken is cooked through, which should happen relatively quickly, serve over rice and your done! The most time consuming part of this meal is obviously all the chopping, which can be done ahead of time if you're into that kind of thing. I like to live life in the fast lane and STRESS myself out :) ENJOY!

Chicken Noodle Soup

What happens when you procrastinate? You FORGET how you made the above soup :) I have a picture, though! LOL! I made this for the girls when they were sick during (the whole month of) February. They actually ate it! I wasn't sick, but still thought it was really good, and easy enough to make if I WERE sick. So, without writing anything down, I'll try to recreate this from memory...although I won't use amounts because I have NO idea. I'm actually pretty bummed that I didn't write this down (Mom, stop saying I told you so!  I can hear you all the way from here! Ha!). I've made a bunch of Chicken Noodle Soups through the years and for some reason, this one really hit the spot.

Chicken Noodle Soup

olive oil (once around the pan...ish)
onions, chopped
garlic, minced
carrots, diced
celery, diced
zucchini, diced
salt
pepper
ground thyme
water
chicken broth or boullion
boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked and diced
whole grain thin spaghetti noodles

So basically, it went a little something like this!

Heat olive oil in a stock pot, add chopped veggies and spices and cook until soft-ish. Add water and broth/boullion to taste. Add chicken. Bring to a boil over high heat and add noodles. Reduce heat to medium and cook until noodles are tender. TADA!

Fiesta Pinwheels

This was a great make ahead appetizer! The only change I made from the original recipe was to use whole wheat tortillas. They were super easy, and very tasty! Recommend!

Fiesta Pinwheels

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup picante sauce
2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix
1 dash garlic powder
1 (4.5 ounce) can chopped ripe olives, drained
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies
1 cup finely shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
8 (10 inch) flour tortillas
Salsa

In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sour cream, picante sauce, taco seasoning and garlic powder until smooth. Stir in olives, chilies, cheese and onions. Spread about 1/2 cup on each tortilla. Roll up jelly-roll style; wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. Slice into 1-in. pieces. Serve with salsa.

Strawberry Bread

I made this bread for our Valentine's Day party with our playgroup. It was submitted to a cookbook for a fundraiser we did for my husband's last ship. It was pretty good and was eaten up, but it was not my favorite. I WAS hoping for a more reddish/pinkish color, which I could have achieved with red food coloring, but...I didn't :) The "strawberry" comes from strawberry jam, which makes this easy to make in a...wait for it...JAM, but I think I would stick with other quick breads before I made this one again. I might make this again specifically for a Valentine's treat, but that's about it! In full disclosure, while I do LOVE strawberries, I am not really a fan of strawberry jam. If you are, this could be perfect for you!

Strawberry Bread

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup strawberry jam
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
2-3 drops red food coloring (optional)

Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time. Add sour cream and jam. Add small amounts of dry ingredients and mix well after each addition. Pour into greased loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until done. Makes 3 2lb or 6 1lb loaves.

my notes:
the "makes 3 2lb or 6 1lb loaves" part completely confused me. i even googled the terms to find out what that meant, but didn't get any helpful information. so, i halved the recipe and wound up with one "regular" (haha, whatever that means!) loaf pan, which is exactly what i wanted.